Legends of NBA Style: The GQ+A with Walt Frazier

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GQ: The newspapers started with the Clyde thing?
Walt Frazier: Yeah because I stole the ball on the court. And I dressed Clyde off the court.

GQ: Some guys get teased when they're in eighth grade and they never go out on a limb again. But some guys like to be instigators. They relish the teasing.
Walt Frazier: I was just being myself. I was like, Hey man, I like this hat. I like the Rolls Royce. I like the mink coats. Round bed. All of this stuff. I was just young and having fun in the greatest city in the world. That was just my style. But the Rolls Royce was an investment. I never liked a Rolls Royce because they were always grey or black. No pizzazz! But one day I see one on the curb and I like the lines of the car. So I go to the Rolls guy and he goes "nah man you can paint it any color you want." So my first rolls was like this [lifts up his oxblood cowboy boots] and tan. So the hood was tan and the top and the trunk was tan and the side was burgundy. But something was still missing. So I put the gangsta whitewalls on it. And now it's a Clydemobile. Nobody had ever saw gansta whitewalls on a Rolls Royce.

GQ: So you were repping Jimmy Cagney a little bit.
Walt Frazier: I liked the gangsta style. The thirties. The double-breasted suits and the hats and the cars with the gangsta whitewalls. That's what Clyde was all about.

GQ: So you didn't care what people thought or said?
Walt Frazier: Yeah, like, today a lot of the guys go, he still dresses in the 70s. But I don't dress in the 70s—I gotta a lot of different looks. I got all type of different looks. So that doesn't bother me what they say. Because it's not for me to criticize anybody's wardrobe. I shouldn't. So I don't have anything to say about anybody else either!

GQ: But you do have a look.
Walt Frazier: Yeah, but it's not dated. I have a passion for fashion. I love different colors. Sometimes I watch Turner Classic Movies just for the fashion. See what the guys dress like. I love the styles from that era. And I improvise it for now. My lapel is not as wide as it was then.

GQ: Did getting called Clyde crystallize your style?
Walt Frazier: That became my persona. Off the court, that became my image: "Clyde." Clyde that's how he rolls. You mention Clyde it means style, creativity, cool. That's what comes to mind.

GQ: So you built a brand?
Walt Frazier: Not trying. I never went in a room with my advisors. I was 25 in the greatest city in the world, winning, having a great time.

GQ: But you didn't realize you could make money for it?
Walt Frazier: But I never saw it as "building a brand" as they do today. Everybody is cognizant of it today. Like now I'm trying to keep this brand going, now that I see I have a brand. But when I bought a Rolls Royce I wasn't thinking "this is a brand that's going to set me apart." It was an investment. I always bought Cadillacs. But how far do I go in New York? In two years I got 15,000 miles and the value has dropped! What the hell is this? So the Rolls was a better investment.

GQ: So you were young but not silly.
Walt Frazier: Common sense. Clothes are my only vice. I don't smoke, I don't drink, I don't gamble. Nothing else that takes my money but clothes.

GQ: When did you start the verbal stylistic flourishes?
Walt Frazier: I started in radio, and in radio the color guy rarely talks. Only when there's a foul or the ball's out of bounds. So the guy I worked with was used to working by himself. So I never got a chance to say anything. He would say, "Right, Walt?" and I'd go "Right!" So what could I do? The first time I got in the business I knew I had to improve my vocabulary. Because I was kind of intimidated. You didn't want to say "You know," or embarrass myself or my family or my friends.

GQ: So you needed a new style in order to get time on air?
Walt Frazier: If a guy's all over the place, "He's ubiquitous." I learned how to get in and jab. I'm like a guerrilla fighter. In and out. Everybody started liking that. But I did get criticized at first. Even my bosses told me to stop rhyming.

GQ: What were some of the drills you did to improve your vocabulary?
Walt Frazier: I used to get the Sunday Times. The Arts and Leisure section, when they critiqued the plays: riveting, mesmerizing, provocative, profound, intoxicating. So I liked the way the words sound. So I have books and books of words and phrases that I write down and study them over and over and over. And when I first start watching the game, I turn the sound off. So I sit and do the game as though I'm doing the game. Whatever you've heard me say during the game I've said hundreds of times, sitting in my living room.

GQ: So it's a decorative art.
Walt Frazier: Yeah, it's like rap the way I do the game. So once you learn words you can rhyme anything. So when I'm on the radio now, this guy's not giving me a chance to say anything, and the Knicks are coming down and they're passing it, I go, "They're dishing and swishing! They're shaking and baking! They're bounding and astounding!" That's all I could get out. Because if I stumble he's going to cut me right off.

GQ: Hip hop has had such an influence on NBA fashion.
Walt Frazier: Precisely. Our idols were the Four Tops and the Temptations. And how did they dress? Suits and ties.

GQ: So there's always been a connection between music and athletics.
Walt Frazier: And that's why these guys dress casual, because that's how the rappers dress. When we came in, the guys were sharp: when Marvin Gaye performed he was in a suit and a tie.